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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORS

June 5, 2016

Tyronn Lue

Oakland, California: Game Two

Q. In the last nine games where you've faced the Warriors, LeBron is shooting 37 percent when Andre Iguodala's on the floor. Is there anything that LeBron needs to be doing, or is that just random? What's your take on that?
COACH LUE: I think it's random because they switch a lot of things and they switch it one through five, so a lot of guys end up on him. And Iguodala played 35 minutes last game, so of course he's going to be on the floor. But as far as the one-on-one, I don't see him having a problem with Iguodala.

Q. Kyrie was a pretty good player before LeBron came back to Cleveland. In what ways the last two years have you seen LeBron have an influence on him to try to make him better specifically?
COACH LUE: I think the biggest thing is just taking care of his body, the approach of playing into June and getting into the Playoffs. You have to take care of your body to make sure you're healthy, and I think Kyrie has done a phenomenal job after his injury last season of coming back and really taking care of his body, really trying to stay healthy. And LeBron's really shown him how to do that.

Q. There was a report that LeBron gave his teammates gold-plated Beats By Dre headphones with an inspirational message on it. My question is, did you get one, and how does it help you as a coach to have someone like LeBron who has so much Finals experience to kind of help with the players that do not?
COACH LUE: I didn't see the headphones. I mean, I didn't see the inspirational, but I heard he gave the guys some, which is great. And LeBron being here six straight times, it's unbelievable. He's been here, he knows what it takes. Guys are looking to him, and he's been helping guys out throughout this process.

Tonight we'll be ready to play.

Q. Coach, you told your players after Game 1 that you want them to play faster. Can you talk about specifically what the Warriors do in their half-court defense that is so difficult? How do they make that tough on teams?
COACH LUE: Well, they have a lot of active guys on the floor, and they also -- when they go small, they're able to switch one through five, with Draymond being a player that can guard any guy from one through the five. They switch out on all pin-downs, they switch the pick-and-rolls, so they make you play a lot of one-on-one.

So the best thing you can do is try to expose the mismatch with Kevin posting up on smaller guys or LeBron, but then they send the double team. So with that being said, we have to play faster and get out in transition to get early, easy baskets. It also opens things up for J.R. Smith and Channing Frye to get shots.

Q. In the games against Portland and OKC, they had some games where they didn't defend really well. They had some high-scoring games. Are you seeing anything different that they're doing or anything they're doing better recently?
COACH LUE: Well, they're not going to let LeBron play on the post. They're not going to let Kevin play on the post. They're going to come and double, which they didn't do a lot the last couple series. So we've got to figure out better ways to score the basketball, and when they do double team, we have to make them pay.

Q. Do you feel like in the time since you've taken over as head coach that you have sort of carved out with officials a comfort zone in terms of give and take during the course of a game? And from your experience, is there a difference at this stage of things in The Finals in terms of what referees will allow or listen to from a coach?
COACH LUE: Well, watching the film, when we talked about it, they're allowed a lot of physicality, and we've got to be physical. They're being physical. All their switches with Steph's on LeBron, he's trying to be physical, bumping LeBron, and we have to take the same approach. I think they're letting the game be played, and we've got to pick up our physicality as well.

Q. What about yourself when it comes time to defend your guys, make a case, ask a question, anything like that? Do you have a good rapport?
COACH LUE: With the referees?

Q. Yes.
COACH LUE: I'm not sure. I don't know.

Q. Do you think some coaches do?
COACH LUE: Oh, yes, some coaches do, definitely. But I don't talk to the referees a lot, so I'm not sure what my rapport is.

Q. You guys have been in the Playoffs six, seven weeks now, and the last 72 hours is the first time you were down in the series. What was that like for you personally, as a coaching staff, as a team, having that weight of trailing in a series as you await the next game?
COACH LUE: Well, that's part of the game. It's 1-0, so someone has to be at 1-0 right now, and we understand they're on their home floor. They played well last game. We're a very confident group. It's just one loss on their home floor, so guys are not taken aback or shaken because of the loss. I think after showing the film, guys feel good about what we did. We did some good things, and if we're able to convert those shots in the paint or easy layups, it would have been a different game for us. So what the teams going to do, what we've been doing, but we've just got to play a little faster than we did last game.

Q. Coach, after the game LeBron talked about getting the ball from side-to-side. I know that in getting the threes a lot of that is about getting to the weak side shooters. How are you going to do that? I noticed some deflections and trying to get it straight across the court. What can you do to get it to the other side and make sure that part of the game is working?
COACH LUE: Well, it's tough. Because when you're trying to get movement, you're trying to take advantage of mismatches and the shot clock is going down. So we have to try to get the ball up the court as fast as we can, get into our sets so we can take advantage of the mismatches. Then we have time to swing the ball and maybe drive it again if we have a chance.

Q. The Warriors' versatility obviously benefits them on defense where they can switch and sort of stifle some of the stuff that you're doing. LeBron's maybe the most versatile player in the league. Where does that benefit you most? Is it more on offense in what he can do in his skillset and what you can do around him, or is there a defensive sort of aspect to it?
COACH LUE: Well, both. But I think really offensively. I think he can play the one, two, three, four and five, so offensively he's a great passer. He knows every position. He's able to get guys involved and also being able to score the basketball. So he can post up. He can drive the basketball, he can make the right play. So offensively for us, he really helps us out. We can put him on the floor in any situation.

Q. Does it come into play more in the Playoffs when you can adjust to what the other guys are doing, game plan around? Is it easier to game plan around him because of his sort of varied skillset?
COACH LUE: Yes, because if they're going to double team, I know LeBron's going to make the right pass and the right play. And we've got to be able to attack, shoot the basketball, he'll catch it and attack and drive it again.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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